In this story a Mexican-Indian pearl diver named Kino awakens to the sound of crowing roosters. Kino lives near the village of La Paz, on the Pacific coast of the Baja Peninsula. His house is made out of brush and bundles of straw fastened together to make walls and a roof. He also has a makeshift cradle hanging from the roof of the hut, where his infant son, Coyotito, sleeps. Kino also has a wife Juana laying down on the mat. Juana rises to check on Coyotito and also starts a fire. Kino also gets up and wraps himself in a blanket and slides into his sandals. In the company of a goat and a dog, Kino stares “with the detachment of God” at a group of industrious ants underneath his feet. Behind him Kino hears Juana singing and nursing Coyotito. …show more content…
Kino and Juana set out for the center of town, with their neighbors trailing behind them. Near the center of town, more people follow, curious to see the outcome of a poor man’s plea to a rich doctor. Arriving at the doctor’s house, Kino knocks at the gate. He fears the doctor, a powerful man not of his own people. The gate opens to reveal one of Kino’s own people, employed in the doctor’s service. Kino explains the details of Coyotito’s injury in his native tongue; the man ignores Kino’s use of the native language and responds in Spanish. He tells Kino to wait while he goes to speak with the doctor. The doctor sits up in bed, surrounded by luxuries. When the servant interrupts the doctor’s reverie to announce Kino’s visit, the doctor bitterly demands to know if Kino has money to pay for the treatment. Kino gives the servant eight small pearls, but soon the servant returns to Kino with them, explaining that the doctor has been called out to attend to a serious case. Standing in shock in front of the closed gate, Kino strikes out in anger, smashing his fist into the barrier and bloodying his knuckles. On the shores of the Estuary, a set of blue and white canoes sits in the sand. Crabs and lobsters poke out from their holes. Kino and Juana walk down the beach to Kino’s canoe. They are going to search for pearls, desperately hoping to find a pearl of sufficient value
As Kino and Juana are eating, a scorpion descends on the little Coyotito threatening to sting him. Coyotito sees the scorpion on his cradle, and reaches out to grab it. Coyotito shakes the cradle, which makes the scorpion fall and land on his shoulder and sting him. Kino sees what the scorpion has done and grabs it and crushes it in his hand. Juana grabs Coyotito and begins sucking the venom out of the wound. The child continues to moan and their neighbors begin to gather outside of their hut. Juana tells Kino to summon the doctor, but Kino does not have much hope that he will come. Juana grabs Coyotito and runs out of their hut towards the doctor’s house. Kino and the rest of the neighbors follow. Once they have reached the doctor, a servant is waiting outside his house. They tell him that their baby child needs to see the doctor immediately. The servant tells them to wait, while he calls the doctor. The servant comes back and tells Kino that he doctor is very busy today and won’t be able to help them...
Set during the colonial era in Mexico, the story reveals the subjugation that the natives had to face and it shows the protagonist’s, Kino’s, attempt to go against the norms of the society and ask for something that was frankly unrealistic. This part of the story is related to the creative lens because Kino tried very hard to secure a future for his family but because the circumstances were not in his favor, he failed. It wasn’t socially accepted to ask for an education or a court marriage at that time for the natives because a native cannot desire to have what the colonists have. In this part of the story, the author uses the literary element of conflict to convey the message that even though Kino had the means to secure a future for himself, because he is a native and because he is aspiring to go against the social norms, he will eventually fail. As a result, it is clearly proven in The Pearl that humans will try to achieve something farfetched and will be unsuccessful in doing
In the novel by John Steinbeck, Kino finds “The Pearl of the World”, but it soon causes him to worry and fear that everyone is out to get him. For example, one situation that illustrates this was when, “Juana, sitting by the firehole,
I must convince Kino to go home and dispose of the pearl because it has negatively changed his personality, and has put our family in grave danger. “Kino, look at what the pearl has done to us! Don’t you think it’s time to give up?” I asked, as I held Coyotito softly in my arms. “I am a man,” Kino replied in an exhausted tone.
Kino, the main character in “The Pearl”, starts off by being a loving, helpful companion to his lover Juana. The two are so connected they barely feel the need to talk to each other. Their life is almost perfect, until a scorpion stings their baby, Coyotito. Because the couple has very little money, the doctor will not cure Coyotito and says, “have I nothing
He is driven by greed, so much so that he could even see dreams form in the pearl. Kino is the head of a modest household and until he finds the pearl he lives a satisfied life with all he needs for his family to be happy. As soon as Kino finds the pearl he starts to want possessions he never wanted before. He dreams of education for Coyotito, marrying Juana in a Catholic church, purchasing new clothing for his family, and getting a harpoon and a rifle for himself. “It was the rifle that broke down the barriers . . . for it is said that humans are never satisfied, that you give them one thing and they want something more” (Steinbeck 32). Located within a small poverty-stricken community, a pearl diver named Kino finds “the Pearl of the World” and becomes suddenly rich, he begins to want items that he thought were impossible before. As Kino thinks more and more of what the pearl can do for him, he starts to think that it will raise his social status as well. This is only the beginning of Kino’s greediness, for the more he gets, the more he will want, and this begins to dehumanize him. Kino focuses on the wealth of the pearl and causes him to change his values about life. In the beginning, Kino is only focused on his family, once Kino finds the pearl he becomes more focused on the pearl, rather than his family. Kino cares a lot more about losing the pearl rather than something bad happening to his loved
Daniel has always dreamed of going to sea. He?s always wanted to sail across it and be in it's vast blue. So when he hears of her fathers plan to go sailing to England on a ship, to go pearl hunting, he just has to go. At first he was reluctant to let him go, considering he was a new time sailor to the family he would be the only young child aboard. Eventually they were talked into letting him come a long. The ship was fairly old and needed to have a lot of work done on it before it could head out to sea. They stop at Block Island, Long Island, Martha's Vineyard, and a little place close to Cape Cod before they finally head out to sea. Their relationships and patients ate tested out on the ocean. Organized as can be, Ramon and his father once started pearl hunting when they were younger. He works hard on it then sells them in the near my market.
In Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is the main character who commits the sin of adultery and bears a child. Most readers pay attention to Hester because of her sinful act and the hardships she endures. Her hardships are very important, but the fact about how her daughter, Pearl, has to go through them with her is also crucial to the story’s plot. Pearl is a very complex and important aspect to the story. Even though her mother committed a sinful act of adultery, Pearl still looks up to her mother with love and grace. Pearl recognizes characters and their significance in her and her mother’s life. There are some points in the story where Pearl is considered a child of the Devil simply because she is the result of a sin. Pearl continuously finds ways to defy the image of being an evil child. Throughout the story, Pearl illustrates an “elf-like” intelligence and a maturity that children do not normally have. Pearl gives her mother the hope she needs to carry on in her life with her head held high and the ability to wear the scarlet letter, “A”, with confidence.
Kino found one of the most valuable and precious pearls in the world and being convinced of its worth was not going to be cheated by only minimally upgrading his condition of life. Instead he wanted to break the fixed life and role that he and his family had and always would live. Kino refuses the maximum offer of fifteen hundred pesos that would easily ease his and his family’s pain and suffering for the coming months. Kino is then determined to trek to the capital to find a fair and just offer. Kino continues determined through the mountains after an attempt at the pearl, his canoe destroyed and his hut set a blaze. Continuing to put his family’s life on the line. It eventually takes the death of his beloved son Coyotito to make him realize he needs to stop being so greedy, no matter how hard he tries and to shut his mouth and know his role.
Readers can tell from the statement that many of the people Kino encounters after finding the pearl become bitter “friends”. At this point, Kino and Juana begin to realize that the pearl is bringing bad luck upon them. They are taken advantage of by the doctor and he decides to visit them after knowing they have the pearl. “This pearl is like a sin”(56). Juana begins to realize the pearl is bringing them bad luck, but Kino still trusts that it’s a gift. Readers can also assume that people are trying to take the pearl when Kino is suddenly attacked during the night. “Blood oozed down from his scalp and there was a long…”(56). Readers can now confirm that the pearl has changed and now represents evil. The pearl also begins to destroy Kino and Juana’s relationship as they have different opinions on what to do with the pearl. After Kino wakes up and follows Juana when she wakes up and walks out, readers know he has started to lose full trust in her. “He rolled up to his feet and followed her silently as she had gone” (58). Through the symbolism of the pearl and what it brings upon Kino and Juana, the author emphasizes how the pearl is not what it first appears to be, which was
Kino, Juana, and Coyotito go back to the beach and row out to an oyster bed, where he begins to search for the pearl. As Kino continues to search, Juana takes things into her own hands after being refused by the doctor and sucks the poison out of Coyotito and then puts seaweed on the wound, unknowingly healing him. Meanwhile Kino gathers several small oysters but suddenly comes across a particularly large oyster. He picks the oyster up and returns to the surface. When Kino opens the oyster he discovers the pearl. Word that the pearl has been discovered travel through the town quickly. People in the town became jealous of Kino and his family which eventually leads to a great deal of harm.
A major theme displayed in Steinbeck’s novel is the difference between the standard of living for Mexicans and that for Europeans. The Mexican people of La Paz are very poor, most of them living in brush houses that contained only one room (Ariki). In Kino’s hut, the single room is used as the kitchen, the bedroom, and Coyotito’s nursery (Johnson 181). Their poverty is further displayed by the dirt floor covered with ants and other insects (Johnson). “He slipped his feet into his sandals and went outside to watch the dawn” describes his morning routine (Steinbeck 3). Kino’s daily breakfast consisted of corncakes and pulque, which is an alcoholic drink (Johnson 182). Since the Mexicans can’t afford utensils, they have to use their hands to eat their food. This is ironic because the Mexicans were the ones who worked the hardest for their living (Johnson 181). Around midday, Kino and the others would go to the sea in their canoes and dive for pearls. Since this was their family’s only source of income, t...
After Kino found his great pearl bad things started happening, Kino and Juana's lives were in trouble. Two men notified in the book as the "dark ones" tried to steal the pearl, luckily Kino had been prepared and got rid of the enemies but that was not the end of the misery. Coyotito got very sick and the Doctor had deliberately made things worse. When it was time to sell the pearl, the buyers offered prices that Kino thought were too low. Kino was angry with the pearl buyers for what they had said. "I will not make an offer at all. I do not want it. This is not a pearl - it is a monstrosity." Kino got angry and decided he wanted to go elsewhere and find a buyer for the pe...
Juana, the wife to fisherman Kino, is one of the main characters in The Pearl. Coming from poverty, Juana and her husband live a minimalist life, as her simple clothes show (a battered blue head shawl and skirt, and a green ribbon knotted in her braids). Many themes in the story revolve around her. Although Juana understands her role to be a subservient and passive wife, she is smart, brave, and determined throughout the novella. Symbolizing the power and strength of women, Juana gradually becomes dominant over her husband. Juana’s second role in The Pearl is to be the protective mother of her son, Coyotito. Last, she is wise and logical in troubling times and acts as the voice of reason. Juana’s words and actions emphasize her various roles in The Pearl.
pearl is so big that it has no value. Kino has to hide the pearl, but while he sleeps a thief tries to steal it. The doctor who would not treat Coyotito's scorpion bite when they had no money now comes to them offering the best medical care he can provide.As the story of Kino's situation unfolds, Kino is forced to kill three men, and worst of all, Kino accidentally shoots Coyotito in the head while he is trying to shoot his pursuers. Finally, at Juana's urging, Kino throws the pearl back into the sea. He has made nothing from his fin...